The pop star journeys to his native Hawaii, where he shows viewers the concrete cabin he shared with his father and brother for a short period following his parents’ divorce when he was 12 years old. “My dad was just the king of finding these little spots for us to stay that we should never have been staying at,” Mars says.

Before that, the family was doing well as performers at a Waikiki Beach dinner club, with Mars learning the entertainment trade, but things took a hard turn after his mother and father split. “We’d all sleep in one bed,” he recounts of sharing the small space. But he doesn’t look back on that time with any grievances. “We had each other and it never felt like it was the end of the world,” he says.

Even though times were rough, Mars knows going through them made him the performer he is today. Without that kind of hardship, he might not have developed his hard-working demeanor and sense of perseverance. He knows both are what allow him to keep working on songs until he gets it just right. “Maybe that’s why I have this mentality when it comes to the music,” he admits. “Because I know I’m going to figure it out. Just give me some time.”

60 Minutes airs November 20th at 7pm on CBS. Check out a preview below.